We have a serious problem

For the first time in ages Witbank Dam’s level dropped below 60% and is now standing on 53.9%. This is a far cry from the 91.2% the same time last year.

“The average projected draw down per month of just more than 3% implies that should we not get decent rain and inflows into our dam over the next few months, we may reach 30% by November,” Mr Theo van Vuuren, Municipal Manager said.

Van Vuuren has intensified water restrictions and said it needs to be done at this critical stage to save water urgently.
Manganese concentrations are increasing as the dam level gets lower and this means residents will again have discoloured and smelly water coming from their taps.

“Last year we had a serious problem and it took us nearly a month to get the situation under control, this year we had isolated cases. Since last year we improved our systems and we are also at this point busy with certain upgrades at our purification works, mainly to ensure that we do not pick up any problems in the event that high concentrations of Manganese enters the system. As our plant has a very high through put we have found that in some cases Manganese end up in the reservoirs and either in smaller quantities reaches homes and also forms sediment in reservoirs,” Van Vuuren said.

The municipality is keeping their eye on the situation and increased their inspections and where practises are followed by mines which result in high concentration of Manganese being washed into the river, they will act with the Department of Water Affairs.

“Although sediments in reservoirs are normal, we face the challenge that when we have interruption in water supply, our reservoirs run empty and that means that the sludge ran into the network. This is also in many cases when water is restored and filtered to homes. It will wash out but may take some time,” the municipal manager explained.

Van Vuuren said the municipality is conscious that the quality of water is not always up to standard.
He said the municipality has various types of problems when it comes to water quality. When there is a pipe burst on repair there will normally be some mud in the water which will wash away soon. Rust has been found in household water and this can be contributed to old and rusted connections between the houses and the network. This is found on a regular basis and according to Van Vuuren the responsibility to replace these pipes is that of the home owner.
Simultaneous pipe leaks or busts of adjacent sewer and water lines may lead to serious pollution.

“The last time this problem occurred to my knowledge it was in Tasbet 12 and the situation was corrected last year. Whenever any case is reported this is taken extremely seriously and will be investigated and tested and corrected. In cases where people are concerned, they should immediately report it to the municipality.”

Emalahleni Local Municipality is 20% short on purified water. But thanks to Anglo’s Reclamation plant the municipality is supplemented with 16ML a day.
Areas which in terms of this arrangement always suffer when a power outage take place or any disruption in supply occur are Tasbet 1, 12, Duvha Park, KwaGuqa, Hlalanikahle, Empumululweni, Paxton, Ogies, Phola and Clewer. There is a light in the tunnel or a drop in the bucket, so to say, for these townships as the municipality have appointed a company to develop a package plant which will provide the municipality with a further 20ML a day, and serve through Point B the supply to these areas. This will take about two months.

“In addition we have entered into a further agreement with Anglo to double the supply from them and we are negotiating with another company to secure a further 12ML of purified water. With all of these in place, Point E, Point C and B will have sufficient water for current as well as future use for at least five years,” said Van Vuuren.

“However, the drought has not only placed us under strain in respect of the volume of water available in the Witbank Dam, it has now also impacted on ground water levels and for a number of days our supply from Anglo has been halved, that has impacted extremely negatively on point B and B to C. We have now 10% less water available in the system and the indicated areas are now even more prone to outages. This is being managed to the best of our ability to ensure that we get water to all. However, any interruptions in supply now compound the situation.”

Leaking and burst pipes are because of the very outdated infrastructure. Van Vuuren foresees less pipe bursts as more of the network is being replaced.

“Regular outages of water are becoming more frequent. In the past these were mainly due to pipe bursts but in addition to pipe bursts we are being faced with a much more serious issue which underlies most of the outages, and that is insufficient water in our system. We need to face the reality of our situation and the impact of the drought and be prepared to take drastic steps.”

One factor that leads to frustration is the developing of new settlements to accommodate residents living in informal settlements.
The Siyanqoba Residential township and Absa Property Development will see 13 000 stands in need of basic services like running water.

“The debate by some will be why we still provide water to new areas whilst we have limitations in supply. The reality is that these people are there and we must assist them. They have a constitutional right like all others to water. At this stage they obtain water either from water takers which cost us millions a month or from illegal connections to the network. When these households are formalised we can open accounts and actually bill them,” Van Vuuren defended the Government’s breaking new ground strategy.

“We never know the worth of every drop until there is none left. Help us save each drop,” is a message from the Executive Mayor Cllr Lindiwe Ntshalintshali.

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